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Service Integration Patterns

When to Use

Use provider abstraction for internal Drupal services consuming plugins. Use REST API controller pattern for external systems consuming service collectors.

Decision

Situation Choose Why
Internal Drupal service consuming providers Consumer Service with Provider Abstraction Auto-select provider based on configuration
External system consuming services REST API Controller with Service Collector JSON serialization, stateless execution
Need provider-agnostic operations Consumer Service Pattern Consumers don't know which provider executes
REST API-first architecture Service Collector Consumer Pattern Built-in endpoints for external integration

Pattern

Consumer Service with Provider Abstraction:

# Consumer service registration
services:
  my_module.service:
    class: Drupal\my_module\MyModuleService
    arguments:
      - '@my_module.service_provider'
      - '@config.factory'
      - '@event_dispatcher'

// Consumer service methods
public function executeOperation($operation_type, $data, $options) {
  // Auto-select provider based on configuration
}

public function executeWithProvider($provider_id, $config_id, $data, $options) {
  // Use specific provider
}

Service Collector Consumer Pattern:

// REST API controller consuming service collector manager
public function execute(): JsonResponse {
  $data = json_decode($this->request->getContent(), TRUE);
  return new JsonResponse(
    $this->servicesProviderManager->executeService(
      $data['id'] ?? '',
      $data['config'] ?? []
    )
  );
}

Key Difference: Service collector pattern exposes services via REST API for external consumption, while provider plugin pattern focuses on internal Drupal service consumption.

Common Mistakes

  • Wrong: External systems calling plugin manager directly → Right: Use service collector with REST API endpoints
  • Wrong: Consumer service hardcoded to specific provider → Right: Use provider-agnostic interface with configuration-driven selection
  • Wrong: No error handling in REST API controller → Right: Wrap execution in try/catch, return proper HTTP status codes

See Also